White Collar Crimes
Preparation
To get ready for the assignment this week, please read the  Sociology Essay Overview  Sociology Essay Overview – Alternative Formats 
.  . – Alternative Formats 
This week you’ll be practicing some basic writing/citing skills. Once you’ve read the Overview, then read the following information to learn more about the expectations for in-text citing, referencing, and outlines as these will guide your writing assignment this week.
What is an in-text citation?
Within your paragraphs, an in text citation is a short indication to the reader that you have learned the information from a source.  It is a sure-fire way to avoid plagiarism!  In research papers, students will summarize content of another source (e.g., the textbook and articles on a web site), without adding personal opinion or experience, and then cite the source to ensure that proper credit is given to the thought originator.
What is a reference?
A reference is an extension of an in text citation.  It shows the entire reference for a source so that a reader can find the article, book, or web site in case they want to read or confirm information.  Citations and references must match.  If you cite “Schaefer 2015” you must have a full reference with the same name and year.
Here are examples (made up for the purpose of this assignment) of citations (that would go within the paragraph) followed by references (that would go a the end of the paper):
According to Smith (2015), research papers are an excellent way for students to learn how to summarize material.  It should also be noted that finding high quality research from web searches is challenging since “much of the information on the internet is not scholarly” (Institute for Teaching Research n.d. www.interestingteachingfacts.edu/teachingtips, para 2).
References
Smith, L.O. (2015). Research Papers: A Student Guide (3rd ed).  Palo Alto, CA, Prentice Hall  Publishing.
Institute for Teaching Research. n.d. Interesting Teaching Facts, para 2. Retrieved on December 20, 2015 from www.interestingteachingfacts.edu/teachingtips
Assignment
There are two parts to this week’s Essay Prep assignment. First, you’ll practice citing and referencing. Second, after reviewing the textbook information in chapter 7 on White Collar crimes and reviewing the FBI web site, you’ll select three White Collar crimes to write about for your final essay assignment. Save your work in a Word document (.doc or .docx) that you’ll then save and upload to the portal “Essay Prep” above.
Part 1. Practicing APA

• Quote from the textbook and cite per APA
• Paraphrase and cite from any the page of interest at the FBI web site.
• Complete a reference list for the textbook and the website you cited above

Part 2. Essay Topics
Your final paper will have five paragraphs: an Introduction, three content paragraph on the White Collar crimes of your choice, and a Conclusion. To get started exploring White Collar crimes, go to the FBI White Collar Crime web site and review the Major Threats and Programs. After reading through a few pages of interest to you, list three White Collar crimes that you’ll write your paper on to complete Part 2 of this week’s assignment.

• Topic 1:
• Topic 2:
• Topic 3:

Save Part 1 and Part 2 in the same Word document and upload to the Essay Prep portal by Sunday at 11:59pET.  Please save your document “lastname EP1.doc” or “lastname EP1.docx”. For example: SmithEP1.docx.
That’s it for your first Essay Prep!  I hope you enjoyed exploring the topic.
Week 2
Essay Prep
Writing
Preparation

• Review the section in Chapter 7 of the textbook on White Collar Crimes
• Review the FBI web site on White Collar crimes
• Read the following sections on content paragraphs to prepare for your writing assignment this week
• You may also want to review the APA guidelines for citations and references

Read about the following components that are present in all good research papers:

• Content Paragraphs (with in-text citations)
• References
  • To the textbook
  • To the FBI web pages you use

What is a Content Paragraph? 
Content paragraphs are the “meat” of your paper.  They are approximately 5 sentences, are based on research, and contain citations to your sources. Following your outline, each paragraph has a different but related topic to discuss.  In a research paper, content paragraphs are based on material from other scholarly sources; they are not based on personal opinion or experience.  Content paragraphs must contain citations to show where the information is from.
Assignment
Time to Start Writing!
This week you should have the following in your Essay Prep document:

• First Content Paragraph Paragraph
  • define white collar crimes (from the textbook)
  • identify, define, and describe one white collar crime (from the FBI web site)
  • include APA formatted citations
• Second Content Paragraph
  • identify, define, and describe second white collar crime (from the FBI web site)
  • include APA formatted citations
• Third Content Paragraph
  • identify, define, and describe a third white collar crime (from the FBI web site)
  • include APA formatted citations
• APA Reference Page
  • list your references to the textbook and the FBI web site(s) that you used to provide content for your paper

Since this is a research paper, please do not include any personal opinion.  Rather, summarize what you learn in the textbook and the FBI web site. Next week you’ll add your introduction and conclusion so be thinking about how you want to summarize your main points!
Upload your Word document to the Essay Prep portal by Sunday at 11:59pET. Save your document as yourlastname EP2.doc or .docx.  For example: SmithEP2.docx
Week 3
Essay Prep
Revision, Introduction, and Conclusion
Preparation
Read the following resources:

• To help you revise your three content paragraphs, use this resource as well as your instructor’s feedback to improve your essay.
• Introduction
• Conclusion

Assignment
Part 1.  Revision
This week you’ll improve on your week 2 work by revising based on feedback from your professor and the strategies outlined in the revision reading above.
Part 2.  Add your Introduction and Conclusion
After reading about how to construct a solid Introduction and Conclusion, write yours and add them to your paper.  Here’s what you should have in this week’s Word document:

1. Introduction
2. Content paragraph with a definition of White Collar crime from the textbook and a description of any White Collar crime of your choice from the FBI site (with APA formatted in text citations)
3. Content paragraph on any second White Collar crime of your choice from the FBI web site (with APA formatted in text citations)
4. Content paragraph on any third White Collar crime of your choice from the FBI web site (with APA formatted in text citations)
5. Conclusion
6. References
   • To the textbook
   • To the FBI web pages you use

Save your document with your last name EP3.doc or .docx. For example: SmithEssayPrep3.doc and upload your Word document to the portal by 11:59pmET on Sunday.
Week 4
Essay
Putting it all together!
Preparation

• Read your professor’s feedback from last week and make improvements.
• Read about formatting your Title Page.

Assignment
This week you’ll improve your introduction, content paragaphs, conclusion, and references per feedback from your professor then add your APA formatted Title Page.
Here’s a checklist of what the final paper should have:

• Title Page
• Introduction Paragraph (summary with a thesis statement)
• Definition of White Collar Crime and discussion of one white collar crime (with citations to FBI web site and/or the textbook
• Identify, define, describe a second type of White Collar crime (with citations to FBI web site and/or the textbook)
• Identify, define, describe a third type of White Collar crime (with citations to FBI web site and/or the textbook)
• Conclusion
• APA formatted Reference list for the textbook and the FBI web site(s) used
  • To the textbook
  • To the FBI web pages you use

Save all parts of your essay in ONE MS Word document, then upload it to the portal by 11:59pEST on Sunday of Week 4.  Please title your document like this:  Yourlastname Essay.doc or .docx  For example: SmithEssay.docx